


Welcome Home

by the_haven_of_fiction



Category: Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Daddy Tom, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 10:57:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11103138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_haven_of_fiction/pseuds/the_haven_of_fiction
Summary: Daddy Tom, Celine, Harry and Daisy from “Fireworks” - Tom comes home with a surprise for the children that causes some tension.





	Welcome Home

The purring ball of fur was tucked snugly in his jacket as he made his way up the few steps to the front door. He’d always loved coming home after being away for so long, but it had become even sweeter now that there were smiling faces awaiting him. The habit of bringing a small surprise for Celine had begun in their first year of marriage and he’d continued it when Harry arrived. His son would normally thank him with a hug and a concise, but heartfelt, “Thank you, Papa” and then promptly retreat to his room to examine the treat with his usual quiet care.

Then there was Daisy. She had squealed with delight upon seeing his face months before she had the capability of being aware of what a “surprise” was, her rosy baby cheeks flushed and ripe for kisses. Her little hands would reach for him and he wouldn’t be able to put her down for hours without instant crocodile tears. Her pleasure at these reunions was only increased when her knowledge of the surprises formed. The items he chose were often picked up wherever he had been working, but he also would frequently grab things on impulse. 

 

The door was flung open as he was reaching for the knob and Daisy launched herself at him, her arms clamping around his legs so that he kept himself still in order not to knock her down. 

“Dadadadadadaaaaaa!“ 

“How’s my favorite girl?" 

He reached down to scoop her up and realized that his surprise prevented such an action. 

"Ups, Dada, ups!”

“I can’t pick up Princess because I have a surprise for her,” he informed her, thinking that he wanted Celine to be present to see their daughter’s reaction to the gift.

“S’prise?” came the response, half squealed in excitement.

“Where are Harry and Mummy?”

Normally the whole brood met him at the door, unless the children were asleep, and he was a bit perplexed at their absence until he saw his wife emerge from the kitchen at the end of the main corridor that ran the length of the house. It was already lined with boxes and he quickly realized that Celine had begun to pack without waiting for him to return home and help her. They had decided to live in London for the first couple of years of their life together and eventually came to an agreement that they would move to the States when Harry began kindergarten. They were due to leave in a month and Celine’s organized nature was evident in the neatly arranged stacks of boxes.

“Tom, you’re early,” her voice seeming tense in an unusual way. She advanced slowly towards them, running a hand through her hair that was pulled back into a loose, unruly braid. 

“Yes, I wanted to surprise you and –“

His explanation was cut short by Daisy’s repetition of that word and he decided the details could be saved for later. The anticipation had been killing him and he couldn’t wait to see her reaction. Daisy loved to watch any kind of show about animals and Celine had more than once chided him about the ever-growing expansion of her stuffed collection, most of them bought by him.

“Close your eyes, baby girl, and let go of me. Put out your hands.”

When she felt the kitten wiggling, her blue eyes flew open and the sheer joy of receiving such a treasure lit her up like a Christmas tree. She immediately began to smother it with kisses and Tom suddenly realized that her enthusiasm might be met with some trepidation, and perhaps even retaliation, by the small bundle. But the feline didn’t appear at all bothered and was blinking sleepily at her. He glanced quickly up at Celine, expected to see the amused yet faintly irritated smile that his interaction with Daisy frequently caused. 

But she wasn’t smiling. 

Not even close.

And she wasn’t frowning.

Not even close.

Her expression was one that he supposed most people would mistake for disinterest, but that he knew was a bad sign. 

A very bad sign.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

“Where’s Harry?” he asked nonchalantly, knowing that Celine hated scenes and if she was upset about something, wouldn’t want to discuss it in front of Daisy. 

She swallowed a few times, looking back and forth between the ecstatic toddler and her husband.

“I thought you wouldn’t be home for another hour or so and I let him go with Cameron to the park. Cameron has…he has…”

Her voice trailed off and now something else was clouding her face, something that looked very much like anger.

Daisy turned from Tom and thrust the kitten up at her mother, babbling excitedly about it, while Tom frantically racked his brain trying to find a possible reason for what could be wrong with Celine.

“Daisy, take the cat into the kitchen and show Emme. She came over to spend time with you, baby. Then finish your lunch. Hold it with both hands like a big girl, don’t drop it.”

The command was given tersely, although Tom knew she was attempting to keep herself calm until their daughter was out of earshot. Daisy’s face morphed into one of almost parental concern and she very deliberately clutched the kitten then proceeded to take small careful steps down the hall and into the kitchen. Emme was their next door neighbor’s daughter and had become sort of their unofficial nanny, helping out whenever Celine was working under a deadline or when they went out together for official functions.

“Upstairs. Now.”

Oh, yes, something was very wrong.

He was wise enough not to say anything as they climbed the stairs and went so far as to tell himself not to speak until she did.

Celine was by nature a fairly calm person, one who rarely reacted out of frustration or strong emotion. He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen her do so and those were almost all due to grief of some kind. He was beginning to feel extremely concerned about the situation at the severity of her looks and actions.

When the bedroom door was closed, she leaned against it and brought a hand up to her forehead, closing her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to look at him.

“Thomas, how could you. Why. What were you thinking. Why didn’t you ask me about this first. What am I going to tell him. We can’t let her keep it. You have to tell her.”

She’d started out with such force that he was a bit taken back, but by the time the last words escaped her mouth, she was almost whispering and he could hear in her voice that she was going to cry.

Not knowing what she was talking about or who the “him” was, he attempted to lighten the atmosphere and make her laugh.

“Darling, I love you. Won’t you let a chap give you a Welcome Home kiss? It’s been three weeks,” flashing a grin at her, “If we wait any longer, your lips might forget mine.”

He truly started to panic when she simply looked at him with a terrible mixture of anger and affection that he hadn’t understood until he’d gotten married. And then she literally seemed to collapse, slumping down onto the floor while both hands covered her face and she began to sob.

It took a few minutes of holding her and letting her cry after he joined her on the floor before she tried to speak. She had taught him while they were still dating that when she was upset, she just wanted to be upset and cry without being grilled about why or what. 

The cause, or rather the causes, of her distress spilled out like a steady stream and he had to take the fragments and fit them together. She was stressed about the move, was dealing with all the details, but the main issue about Daisy’s gift was actually twofold.

“You didn’t stop to think about the fact that she isn’t even three years old yet. Who do you think is going to end up taking care of that thing? And it’s long-haired, Tom. It will need to be brushed regularly.”

That sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach was getting stronger.

“I know you don’t like to make plans and this was done on impulse. You have to stop doing that. And we can’t keep it. I just had to tell Harry that he can’t have a pet because of the move. Cameron has a new puppy and Harry is in love with it and he asked me for one today. I had to tell him no. He’s such a good boy, he never asks for anything or complains about anything and he acts like he’s excited about this change, but it isn’t like it is with Daisy. You’ve convinced her that it’s a big adventure and she’ll be so close to Disneyland and my family, but Harry is older and even though he generally keeps to himself, he’s going to miss Cameron and this home and…and…”

She pressed her damp face into his neck and was unable to continue for a moment.

His sense of self-reproach was at an all-time high and he was mentally kicking himself for not being aware of the spirit of what she was trying to express to him. He knew that her emotional response wasn’t merely about Harry, it was also because she was feeling the same way. Yes, it was her home to which they were returning, but she’d made a life in London since they’d married and it was clear to him that this event had a bittersweet aspect for her.

When she was able to speak again, her voice had recovered some of its earlier animation and her pronouncement sent dread shooting through him.

“We can’t keep it. You have to go tell her and take it back somehow.”

At imagining the scene such a thing would cause, the image of having to extract the animal from a hysterical Daisy, the phrase “fate worse than death” danced across his mind.

“Darling, I can’t do that. I just can’t. I’m sorry, I’m terribly sorry for making a decision like this without consulting you, but please don’t. I know you’re angry, but it isn’t her fault, it’s my fault. Please don’t –“

She’d been clinging to him since he’d sat down next to her. Now she pushed away from him in a fury.

“This isn’t about you, Tom, it’s about our family. It isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to me,” pointing to herself, “and it isn’t fair to Harry,” pointing downstairs. “I don’t even want him to see it when he comes home. What will he think? I won’t let him for a minute have a fear that we’ll deny him what we’d give to her without a second thought.”

He caught her by the wrist when she tried to stand up and she reluctantly remained by his side at his soft entreaty.

“You’re correct. Of course you are. I didn’t mean to blame you. I’m sorry,” apologizing again and running a hand up her arm to her shoulder, watching her soften a bit at his touch and words. “But how can I tell her? I…”

Now it was his turn, how he was the one who was rendered nearly speechless from emotion. She saw that he was struggling, saw the tears welling. 

“I don’t know exactly, something about the kitten, it’s so little and it has such big sweet eyes, and…I ran into the shop to pick up something for the children and I saw it in the window next door and it…it just reminded me of her when she was born.”

At that, that tears spilled over and they were both remembering the scare, how she’d arrived a month early and although the doctors assured both of them that she had the best chance of a healthy life, they’d nonetheless been terrified. Especially Tom. He remembered how he felt when he got the call on set, how it seemed like the bottom fell out from under him, and that nothing else in life mattered except his family. He remembered running to the closest restroom, he remembered his knees hitting the cold hard tile as he knelt in front of the toilet and flung the lid up. He remembered that feeling, the churning dread that accompanied him on the flight home, afraid to sleep or let go of his phone for fear of missing any news. 

Even when he arrived at the hospital and found Celine and the baby were well, it never really went away. She was so forgiving, so understanding. She never blamed him for not being there, never railed against him for being absent at the worst hours of the crisis. Without her help, he didn’t think he could have forgiven himself for such a thing. It had been a huge eye-opener for him, inciting a change in his attitude about life and causing him to choose work that was closer to home and/or wouldn’t keep away him away for extended periods. 

“Tom, I know. I know your still beat yourself up over that. I know you still get scared every time you leave. I know.”

She smoothed the hair back from his forehead, running her fingers through his short curls, as he tried to blink away the tears.

“But I’m going to tell you what I told you from the beginning: you can’t let regret and fear from the past cause you to make unwise choices now. Our children are safe, they are loved, they are cared for. They don’t lack for anything in that regard and they certainly don’t experience any kind of material deprivation. I know you want to spoil us and especially her. I know. And I love that, I love that you bring home surprises. But this was just…”

She paused. He knew her ire had calmed a bit and she was taking care to find the right words, to continue in a way that wouldn’t inflame the situation any further, though she wasn’t the one who had created the problem.

“I know, darling. I’m sorry. It was impulsive, harmfully so, and I apologize.”

His hands gripped her shoulders when she finally gave him that Welcome Home kiss. She tasted like coffee and mint, that perfect mix that he missed so much when he was away from her and one that he could never replicate, no matter how much flavored creamer he put in his own cup.

“I am serious,” she informed him when the delicious flavor was clinging to his lips a minute later, “You do have to take it back.”

He convinced her to take a quick nap before he left the room to face his fate with Daisy. The blanket was tucked around her snugly and her eyes were already closed when he kissed her one more time, whispering something into her ear that made her reach out and pinch him.

She stirred when he entered the room about an hour later. He pulled off his shoes and climbed in beside her, wondering how he was going to now face his fate with her.

Soft kisses on her neck had her humming and she wiggled her hips a bit against him.

“Back so soon?” asked in that raspy sleepy voice he loved, “Did the shop give you any trouble?”

A hand wandered to the waistband of her shorts, fingers danced between the fabric and her skin.

“Have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful, the most captivating, the most –“

“Thomas, get out of this bed and return that cat or so help me, I will –“

She knew. She always knew.

“But, darling, listen,” he interrupted her, calling upon all his powers of speech and persuasion to help through this, “I tried, but she – “

“She is two years old. This isn’t a negotiation. She doesn’t get a vote.”

Her voice was returning to that tone from earlier in the hall and she was instantly stiff in his arms; he decided to play his ace immediately.

“She wants to name it Mummy.”

Some of the tension left her on a heavy sighing breath.

“She said that’s the bestest name in the whole world because the kitten is sweet, like you.”

Another sigh.

“And Harry is back. He saw it and was quite excited. He told me kittens are better than puppies because kittens can go to the loo inside the house and puppies have to be taken outside.”

She was silent.

“Harry said he would help teach Daisy how to clean the litter box. It’s such a calm little thing, darling, it hasn’t hissed or scratched at either of them. Daisy took some of her doll clothes and is dressing it up and it looks like it’s having just as much fun as they are.”

Still silence.

“It’s so sweet, it purrs so loudly when you stroke under its chin and down its belly. They’ve both promised to look after it. I told them it’s a serious responsibility and they have to make sure that it doesn’t become a job for you.”

He waited for her to respond somehow, but thought perhaps her silence was a sign of her acquiescence.

“And I also told them that Daddy didn’t ask Mummy before he brought the kitten home and we can only keep it if Mummy thinks it’s best for the kitten.”

Yet another long sigh, punctuated with a defeated “Oh, Tom.”

He knew he had won.

“Fine. But if that thing starts crying on the flight, I am going to move to another seat and you will have to deal with it. And you are Litter Box Supervisor when you’re home. And Grooming Supervisor. And I suggest you put your paws to good use right now or I’ll change my mind.”

Her giggles filled the room when his fingers began to tickle under chin like he would on the kitten, but they rapidly turned to gasps when his hands move on to stroke lower.

“And,” spoken rather breathlessly, “all pussy jokes are hereby prohibited.”

“Why, darling! Such language!” he raised his head and did his best to feign shock, but her head had fallen back against the pillow and her eyes were closed.

“Emme’s leaving at 2.”

She reached down to grab a fistful of his hair.

“You have 20 minutes. Make me purr, Daddy.”

His muffled chuckle was quickly followed by a second when he heard her protest a few seconds after the command was issued.

“Stop.”

“Mmmm…feeling feisty, are we?”

The grip on his hair tightened to an almost painful degree.

“Stop!” uttered with more vehemence as she tried to leverage herself away from him.

“Be still, ma petite,” he murmured, lowering his voice to the tone that made her shiver.

“No! I mean it! I hear Daisy crying!”

With that his head snapped up and he quickly pulled her shorts back to her waist and they scrambled out of the bed.

“She was fine when I just left her, I swear! I told her I was going to ask you about keeping it,” assuring his wife and stumbling over his shoes.

“If the kitten has scratched her or something, she’s going to be traumatized for life!” Celine cried while Tom raced ahead of her to the door.

They were greeting by a panicked Emme who was a step behind Daisy and almost had snagged her before she could gain access to her parents’ bedroom. Tears were streaming down her face and she was holding the kitten, who was clothed rather awkwardly in Belle’s blue and white work dress and seemed oblivious to the commotion.

“What is it?” Tom asked, glancing over to Emme and gathering his daughter in his arms, trying to hold her close without squishing the cat. Celine quickly looked at the little girl’s face and arms and breathed a sigh of relief that there didn’t appear to be any blood or evidence of claw meeting skin.

“Da-ha-ha-da!” wailed pitifully in the way that always went straight to his heart. “You di’in’t come back! Mummy say no?”

Tom looked at his wife to make sure her decision stood and a slight nod confirmed it. 

“Look, it nice kitty,” stuttered out between sobs while one arm reached for Celine, “like Mummy.”

“You can keep the kitty, sweetie,” she cooed, taking the offered hand from Daisy with her own, which was promptly pulled closer and placed on the kitten’s soft belly, “but you have to promise to help take care of it, like Daddy said.”

It took a few minutes of assurances from both sides and not a few hugs and kisses before the tears abated and she was smiling.

“Daisy baby, we can’t name it Mummy,” Tom said to her when Emma went back downstairs to check on Harry and they were all settled on the bed and playing with the kitten. “It’s a boy, like Harry, and we already have a Mummy.”

Her brows knit into a frown of concentration, as if she were wrestling with a heavy affair of state, that made Celine stifle a laugh.

“Okay, Dada. We think.”

Celine was attempting to roll up the skirt of the dress a little so that the poor thing could walk without tripping over the fabric when Daisy exclaimed that they could call him Belle. She lost the battle of holding in her laughter upon seeing the expression on Tom’s face.

“Well, baby girl, that’s…that’s a very nice name, but…”

He caught his wife’s eye and mouthed “HELP!” as the storm clouds began to descend on Daisy’s face again.

“That’s a lovely name, it will do just fine,” Celine said and gave Daisy a kiss on each cheek.

The twin smiles that were aimed at her inspired her own.

Daisy was squealing a few seconds later when Belle began to lick her hands and declared to Tom and Celine that the kitten was probably hungry and needed a baba.

“Belle doesn’t want a baba like Daisy has, she – I mean he – needs special food for cats,” Celine explained, looking at Tom and realizing that he probably hadn’t thought of that. Or a litter box. The sheepish half grin was all she needed to know that it was indeed the case.

“In fact, Daddy is going to take you shopping to get things for Belle. Go tell Harry and put your shoes on.”

Daisy went scampering off with the kitten in tow, Celine calling after her to be careful and go slowly on the stairs.

“Well, Mummy, I guess you’ll have to accept a raincheck for the purring,” he murmured into her ear and gave her a quick kiss on his way out of the room, not fully trusting Daisy to get down the stairs safely with Belle.

“Don’t dawdle, Sugar Butt, or I may be forced to get things going myself,” her threat accompanied by a playful swat to the source of the nickname that had him grinning from ear to ear.

“And…welcome home..”


End file.
